Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million Maya people in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. Modern Mayan languages descend from the Proto-Mayan language, thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan religions by name. Mexico recognizes eight within its territory.
About Mayan languages in brief
Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million Maya people in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. The Mayan language family is one of the best-documented and most studied in the Americas. Modern Mayan languages descend from the Proto-Mayan language, thought to have been spoken at least 5,000 years ago. During the pre-Columbian era of Mesoamerican history, some Mayan Languages were written in the logo-syllabic Maya script. The surviving corpus of Mayan inscriptions on buildings, monuments, pottery and bark-paper codices, combined with the rich post-Conquest literature, provides a basis for the modern understanding of pre- Columbian history unparalleled in the Americans. Mayan language specialists such as Lyle Campbell believe this period of intense contact between the Xincan and Lencan people, possibly during the Classic period, may have been the source of loanwords for the Mayan language. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan religions by name, and Mexico recognizes eight within its territory. In the Archaic period, a number of loan words from Mixe–Zoquean languages seem to have entered the proto-mayan language. This has led to hypotheses that the early Maya were dominated by speakers of Mixe ZoQuean languages, possibly the Olmec. The earliest proposal was that of Sapper which identified the Chiapas-Guatemalan highlands as the likely \”cradle\” of mayan languages was published by the German antiquarian and scholar Karl Sapper.
Although a single prestige language is commonly referred to as ‘Classic Maya’, both varieties are commonly called ‘Mayan’ Mayan is the most frequently recorded language on hieroglyphic texts, and evidence for at least three different varieties of hieroglyic texts has been found at the Maya sites of the time, both of which are commonly referred as ‘Maya’ or ‘Mayo’ The Maya language has been partially reconstructed using the comparative method, and it is thought to be the most widely spoken language in the world today. It is the only language in which the word class of ‘positionals’ is still in use. It has been suggested that Mayan may be the first language to be spoken in the modern world. It was used by the Maya to indicate spatial relationships, and to refer to objects and people. It also has a special word class for verbs, which is typical of all Mayan words. The proto-Maya language diversified into at least six different branches: the Huastecan, Quichean, Yucatecan, Qanjobalan, Mamean and Chʼolan–Tzeltalan branches. The first division occurred around 2200 BCE, when speakers of the first branch split away from Mayan proper after its speakers moved northwest along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Speakers of the western branch moved south into the areas now inhabited by Mameans and Quicheans.
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This page is based on the article Mayan languages published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 16, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
